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Sir John Soane’s key to Lincoln's Inn Fields
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SM X259. ©Sir John Soane's Museum, London. Photo: Justin Piperger
Sir John Soane’s key to Lincoln's Inn Fields
Metal
Inscription: No 13
Inscription: LINCOLNS INN FIELDS / TRUSTEE
Museum number: X259
Not on display
Curatorial note
On 23rd January Soane paid ‘the Beadle of Lincoln’s Inn Fields for a key 10s.6d’.
All owners of properties around the square were Trustees of Lincoln's Inn Fields and each had their own key to the railings like this one, enabling them to make use of the private enclosed square. The key is marked not with the name of the property owner but with the house number and such keys were presumably passed on from owner to owner when the property changed hands.
Peter Thornton (Curator 1984-95) noted that this 'unusual key' was 'still hanging on a nail by a front-window in No. 13 in the late 1980s'.
All owners of properties around the square were Trustees of Lincoln's Inn Fields and each had their own key to the railings like this one, enabling them to make use of the private enclosed square. The key is marked not with the name of the property owner but with the house number and such keys were presumably passed on from owner to owner when the property changed hands.
Peter Thornton (Curator 1984-95) noted that this 'unusual key' was 'still hanging on a nail by a front-window in No. 13 in the late 1980s'.
Exhibition history
The Soanes at Home: A Day in the Life of Regency London, Sir John Soane's Museum, London, 24 October 1997 - 29 February 1998
Soane collections online is being continually updated. If you wish to find out more or if you have any further information about this object please contact us: worksofart@soane.org.uk